CARE: Lasting Support for Refugees Worldwide

Thank you for your commitment to supporting CARE’s Lasting Support for Refugees Worldwide. Below are updates on CARE’s response to this humanitarian crisis:

Refugees have well-founded fears of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, and other factors. Many refugees are facing their fifth winter in tents, unfinished buildings, and sheds. This winter, CARE’s teams across the region have been helping over 35,000 refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey with winterization cash assistance, mattresses, blankets, gas heaters, and clothing. Inside Syria, CARE has reached approximately 50,000 people this winter in different areas with winterization assistance. Nevertheless, funding is desperately needed to provide urgently needed support. With your donation CARE provides short and long term assistance to refugees- from shelter, food, water as well as education, health and security.

How is CARE Responding?

CARE's provision of life-saving services to refugees and host communities in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, and to people affected by the crisis inside Syria has already reached almost 1.5 million people. In Jordan, CARE provides Emergency Cash Assistance for refugees so they can pay for basic living costs, including rent, medication and food. CARE assists with vital information on how refugees can access further health, legal and social support and provides psychosocial assistance to women, men and children, in addition to other services such as winterization cash assistance, cash for education, recreational and psychosocial safe spaces for children, women, and men, and referrals to other NGOs. In Lebanon, CARE repairs water and sanitation infrastructure, provides health education sessions, works with municipalities to improve water supply and sanitation infrastructure for refugees as well as for host communities. CARE Turkey is providing life-saving aid to refugees from Syria, in addition to providing water and sanitation assistance, food vouchers, hygiene and household items, and information provision on health and gender/sexual violence.

Syrian volunteers, who are refugees themselves, are an integral part of CARE's Syria Response. Alongside Jordanian and Lebanese volunteers, they assist in organizing and preparing distributions of relief items.

Looking ahead, CARE remains committed to helping ensure refugee families have protection, shelter, food, clean water, and that they eventually can recover their livelihoods.

Human Interest Story

Amir’s Letter

“My name is Amir. I am 33 years old. Here is my story, in brief.

I lived for a long time in a foreign country, far from my beloved homeland of Syria and far from my family, my relatives, my loved ones, and my friends. I did this in order to work and earn money for a house. So that I can get married and settle down and live in my home and have a beautiful family (the dream of every young Syrian). When I had enough money for a house, I returned to Syria and I did buy a house with the guidance of God. But I lived in it for a short time because the Arab Spring began in my country. The bombing began. My precious house, which I had worked hard for, built from the ground, and looked after day and night, was destroyed. So was my dream. My family got scattered throughout the country, and in other countries. I live alone now in a foreign country and I anxiously wait to be reunited with my family.

Thank you.”

Hint’s letter

“I’m 26 and I am from a city called Shahba in Syria. I grew up there but went to Halap to continue my university studies. There I met young people from all over Syria, and made some very good friends. I returned home after my studies, and found work as a public servant. Then the fighting started. My family had an internet café. It got broken into. It was tense, hostile. We left Syria. Now I am happy that I can volunteer for CARE. All I want is peace and hope for Syria and all countries suffering like mine. I want to go back and achieve what I planned to do.”

Note: Hint is a 26-year-old female refugee who volunteers at the CARE East Amman Refugee Center.

Links:

• Young Voices from Syria